Catholic Husband

Love / Lead / Serve

Go Ahead and Fail

GK Chesterton once said, “Anything worth doing is worth failing at.”

He wasn’t suggesting that we strive to do things poorly. He was saying that if a task is worth doing, then it is worth taking the risk of getting it wrong.

He was warning against perfectionism.

Striving for perfection is ok, but being a perfectionist to the detriment of the task is not.

What am I even talking about?

Being a husband is a daunting task. Your wife depends on you to lead, love, pray and grow. That is a tall order for us as men, especially with all of our flaws. We may let ourselves believe the lie that if we can’t be the perfect husband, we shouldn’t get married at all.

That is wrong. It’s wrong because this whole life is a learning experiment! Sure, we have guides and teachers to help us along the way (parents and other role models), but even the best guide knows that if the student doesn’t fail on their own, they will never be successful.

The enemy of starting something is perfection.

God doesn’t call us to be perfect, He calls us to strive for perfection.

Your wife doesn’t expect you to be perfect. She does expect that you would actually give your best effort and not mail it in.

Don’t be afraid of your faults and weaknesses. Embrace them, work through them, and then use your experience to help someone else.